Are you a high schooler?
by youngshdw
Summary: In which Kuroo mistakes his grown up client for a teen. Kenma just wants shelter and a glass of juice.
1. Chapter 1

"Welcome. Can I help you?" said the bartender, wiping the glasses and putting them on the countertop. He looked at the customer who had entered the door, just as he always did, and was trying to hide his surprised face. He never thought that the bar is suitable for a…highschooler? Yes, a high schooler, not very tall, with bleached hair, tied in a ponytail, his clothes soaking wet. Kuroo watched him, what would he like to command? He'll have to ask for an ID if he's going to order alcohol.

The customers of the bar weren't that many, just 2 men, already pretty wasted, and it wasn't even dark outside. And a woman, in the back, typing insistently on her phone. Although it was not a pleasant atmosphere, Kenma had to hide from the rain someway. The subway station was far away and there was still a decent distance that he had to walk from the subway to his apartment. What was in his head when he decided to apply for a job at a library in the other part of the town?

"Just some orange juice, please." said Kenma, and sat down on a chair next to the countertop, taking off his soaked jacket and loosening the hairband, letting his hair to dry up faster. The bartender raised his eyebrows and poured the drink.

It seems that the high schooler was smart enough and didn't order something that's not allowed.

"So, what's a kid doing here?" Kuroo said with a trace of irony in his voice. He smiled and held his head in his hands, looking at the new client. The man just wanted to tease him a little bit. Not every day an innocent person enters in his bar.

"Surprisingly, I am not a kid…" said Kenma, avoiding the visual contact. "I was coming from work and it started to rain, and because there aren't any other bars or cafes around here, I had to come here." He spoke with a quiet voice, cheeks turning a dark shade of pink and staring once again over the little bar, looking at the customers, and even though there were not so many people, Kenma still thought that they were too close to him. He knew that he looks too young for his age, because of his not so high stature, and the bleached hair that was very popular among teenagers. He ran his fingers through his bleached hair and grabbed the glass from the counter. The true reason for his cheeks turning red was actually the gaze of the bartender. He was quite tall, and his suit gave him an elegant air. His muscles could be observed through the thin shirt that he was wearing. Yes, he truly has a very muscular frame.

"I'm Kuroo Tetsurou" the man spoke and stretched his hand to Kenma. The faux blonde shook it, feeling a little anxious.

Though he was working in a library where he was interacting with quite a decent amount of people, Kenma wasn't used to this kind of… interaction. Usually, the conversations between the librarian and the visitor are limited to "Don't forget to bring the book on time" or "The book is on that shelf."

"Kenma Kozume."

"You said that you are not a child, didn't you? Forgive my impoliteness, but can you tell me how old are you, please?" said Kuroo, continuing with his ironic tone.

"I am not a woman to tell me that you are impolite if you are asking for my age." he giggled. "I'm 22."

Kuroo was surprised. He thought that he will say that he's 18 or something like that, but he was wrong. The boy… well, the man, was only a year younger than him and, oh dear, he called Kenma a kid. Furthermore, he seems like a very pleasant person, he did not have to judge the book by its cover.

"Well, I'm really sorry. I hope you did not get mad, hehe." he chuckled while pouring another glass of juice. "It's on the house, don't worry." he smiled. Kenma smiled back, trying not to blush. The bartender was truly a nice man.

The blonde man glanced at the window and noticed that it was not raining anymore. It was a relief for him, he would finally go home and enjoy the movie night with Shoyo.

Kenma paid and left the bar before the rain started again. He had only made a few steps out and somebody grabbed his shoulder. He looked alarmed behind and was pleasantly surprised when the person who reached for him was just Kuroo.

It was still too early for thieves and pickpocket to appear, so there was no need for him to flinch and jolt scared at every move.

"Oh, sorry. Did I scare you? Umm… I am I'm a little embarrassed to ask this, but would you like to give me your phone number?" said Kuroo, giving Kenma his phone to write down his number.

Kenma nodded and he wrote it down before his anxiety could intervene. He said goodbye to Kuroo and ran to the subway station. This day wasn't a bad as Kenma thought it will be.

He came home a little after sunset, but usually, he arrives earlier. That rain ruined his schedule. It seemed that Shoyo had already cooked dinner because a pleasant smell of fried meat was coming from the kitchen.

"I'm home!" he said, entering the kitchen where Shoyo was cutting an onion for their salad.

"Hey, Kenma! You didn't say that you will be late from work."

"Ah, rain started exactly when I was coming back and I needed to enter in a bar until the rain stopped."

Kenma sat down at the table and opened his phone to play, just as he usually does. He saw a message from an unknown number. Something told him that it was probably from Kuroo, his new "friend".

? (8:47 PM): Are you home?

Kenma (9:03 PM): Kuroo?

? (9:03 PM): Yes, hey. So, are you home?

Kenma (9:04 PM): Yeah, thanks for worrying.

The blonde man had been surprised by the rapidity with which Kuroo had responded to the messages. He brushed his hair from his eyes and noticed that Shoyo looked at him smiling.

"Soooooooo, a new friend?"

"It's just the bartender who was working at the bar where I was hiding from the rain. He was really nice to me so I gave him my phone number."  
Shoyou laughed and placed the pan and the salad bowl on the table. Kenma put the plates.

"I am so sorry for ruining your plans for this night, but Tobio called me earlier and I think us two will go for a walk after I eat. I know, we were supposed to watch a movie together… but I really want to go out with him!" Shoyo said with a slight regret in his voice. He took the chopsticks and stuffed a piece of meat in his mouth.

"Oh. It's okay. We can watch it tomorr–"

Kenma was interrupted by another message. It was from Kuroo.

Kuroo (21:11): Wanna come to the bar tomorrow?

"Hm? Who texted you?"

"The guy I was talking about earlier. He wants me to come to the bar tomorrow."

Shoyo clapped his hands and yelled a "YES!"

Kenma blushed and put his phone back in his pocket.

"I will think about it. Anyways, we will watch the film tomorrow, yes?"

Shoyo nodded and smiled at his best friend.

"And you will totally go to that bar!"

"So, bro. Today I met a guy. He looked like a high school kid, you know? And when he told me that he has 22 years, I was shocked, I mean, REALLY shocked." said Kuroo to Bokuto, his best friend ever since high school, them both making a duo that can not go unnoticed, being both loud, tall and muscular, and with haircuts that you do not see every day. Especially Bokuto, with his spiked, white and gray hair.

"How does he look?" said Bokuto, taking the whiskey that he ordered.

"Not too tall, he has bleached long hair, and apparently, he works somewhere nearby. I texted him, asking if he wants to visit the bar tomorrow, but he still didn't answer."

"You like him or something?" Bokuto asked, looking at him with a smirk, wanting to annoy him.

"Don't laugh, I'm not that desperate." Kuroo chuckled. "How could you like a person that you barely know? I just… want to make new friends, I think?"

"Aw, so you leave me for a blond dude." said Bokuto dramatically, holding his hand to his forehead and pretending to faint. "I did not think I'd ever say that, bro." he continued, leaning his head in his hands and staring at Kuroo.

The black haired man started to laugh hysterically and tossed another whiskey after his friend finished the first one.

With a friend like him, Kuroo did not feel that much the lack of socializing.


	2. Chapter 2

That morning, Kenma woke up way later than he was supposed to. He spent the previous night in front of the TV, playing video games and went to bed way past midnight while Shoyou spent the night at Tobio. Since he played video games less often than he used to in high school, Kozume truly enjoyed to have the apartment at his disposal, because hearing words like "Are you playing video games again?" or having to go grocery shopping right when the game console starts loading reminded Kenma of the days when he was still a teenager living with his parents. It's nice to have a roommate but annoying as well, even though the person that you're sharing your apartment is your best friend.  
The alarm tune rang three times before the blond woke up. He raised his head tiredly, widening his eyes when he saw that he had only an hour and a half left to get ready and be in time at the library. He completed his morning routine as fast as he could, having barely enough time to prepare a sandwich and practically shove it down his throat as he was used to having Shoyou preparing his breakfast for him.

Kenma thought about calling the ginger head but decided against it since he was sure that Hinata would be back home around lunch as he usually did when he slept at Kageyama's. Even though the two of them weren't officially a couple, the brunet and the red-haired man spent a good amount of time together.

He had to run again. Kenma concluded that if he were to run like that daily, he might as well become an athlete.

The metro was crowded like every other morning. Kenma hated the metro. It was full of people, all kind of people. And the train that he specifically rode always had dubious passengers. He rarely spotted men or women dressed like they had a decent workplace. And again, what was he thinking when he decided to apply for a job at a library situated on the other side of the city?

Kenma arrived 10 minutes late at the library. His body was sticky with sweat and he desperately tried to catch his breath, almost tackling down some old lady on his way inside the building.

Sighing, Kenma strode to the nearest book cart, hurrying to place the books on their respective shelves before another librarian could notice that the blond was late.

"Kozume-kuuuuuuuun~" someone shouted from behind Kenma. He jolted and dropped the thick textbook about the history of Japan, scraping its cover.

"Oikawa." The blond exhaled, placing the book back on the shelf, hoping that no one would notice the scratch on it.

Oikawa Tooru, a narcissistic and way too cheery brunet was tutoring middle school children during their school breaks in the same library where Kenma worked. He approached Kenma with a wide smile, humming a light tune. Kenma didn't really know what to think of the other man but he assumed it that Oikawa liked him as the brunet claimed the faux blonde his "favorite friend" a few times before, whatever that meant.

"Kozume-kun, I'm really glad that it is your shift today." He smiled, practically singing the words. "I know that I can fully rely myself on you and that I can always ask for your advice and opinions, and looks like the big day has come."

Kenma eyed the other with dull eyes. "How can I help you?" he asked afterwards.

"Oh, nothing too complicated, I just want to hear your opinion." Oikawa spoke as he took his phone out from his pocket and scrolled through it, looking for something. "Do you think this man looks good?" he asked, turning the screen to the other.

Kenma looked at the device uninterested but soon concluded that he knew the person in the picture that Oikawa showed him.

"Kuroo?" Kenma asked, more for himself.

"Oh, so you know him."

"Not really. He's working as a bartender at that bar that's a few blocks away from our library. I met him yesterday. That's it."

"Come on, tell me more about him!" Oikawa insisted as he practically shoved his phone to Kenma's face.

"He's nice." Kozume answered shortly, shrugging.

Oikawa squealed and smiled at Kenma's words, clearly pleased by the other's words. "This man, I mean just look at him! He's almost as handsome as me! Isn't this a sign? Should we become a pair?"

"How did you two met?"

"We met at a club about 3 weeks ago and we did some stuff, but nothing too serious. Just some drunk-ish fooling. I've already forgotten about him but I stumbled across his profile on Instagram and I told myself: Tooru, how could you be so stupid? Look at him! He's perfect for you." The other finished dramatically.

"You pick your partners by their appearance?" was Kenma's perplexed answer.

"Of course not." Oikawa laughed. "But you said yourself that he's nice and I believe you wholly. Maybe I'll visit him today. You told me you know where he works."

"Ah, yes. Do you want me to show you the place?" Kenma answered but immediately regretted it. He'll be home late again.

"As soon as your shift ends, call me and meet me at the library entrance."

Kozume nodded and returned to his duties while Oikawa started humming the same light melody from before, sitting happily on a couch.

Even though Kenma didn't really want to go with Oikawa to that bar, he low-key wanted to see Kuroo. He then remembered that he left Kuroo's text from yesterday still unanswered and hurried to type a short reply.

Kenma (10:11 AM): I will be there. Around 7. With Oikawa Tooru. He told me you both know each other?

Kuroo had just woken up. His shift started only around 6 in the evening, so he had plenty of time to laze in bed. He grabbed his phone to check the time and noticed that he had received a text from Kenma. Kuroo smiled, as he thought that his text would remain unanswered. He opened the message and he couldn't believe his eyes. That…Oikawa Tooru? The one he kissed and nearly had sex in a club a few weeks ago? The man confused the shit out of Kuroo. One second he was acting all cute, almost childish and the next moment he turned all angry and hostile, threatening to destroy all his rivals and enemies. As Kuroo said, very confusing. Though he was a good kisser, Oikawa was either utterly strange or simply too drunk. Tetsurou didn't really know what to think of him.

Kuroo (10:26 AM): Okay.

He didn't know what else to say as he thought that he would offend Kenma if he would say anything about Oikawa if the two of them were close friends. So, he'd have to spend the evening with both Kenma and Oikawa, not only with Kenma as he initially planned. He still hoped that his plan to make a new friend wouldn't fail completely and he and the short blonde would get to know each other better. Maybe Oikawa isn't that bad. He hoped that Bokuto would come earlier than he used to so that he would console the raven-haired male if the night would turn out bad.

It was a rather beautiful evening and the orange sun was already setting down, spreading a soft, dim light. Kenma called Oikawa who picked up immediately and said that he'll be there in less than 5 minutes. He envied the other for living so close.

The two of them headed to the bar in complete silence, Oikawa starting to hum a soft melody. The distance between the bar and the library wasn't too big so he didn't have to start a conversation with Tooru and the other didn't seem to look too interested to chat with him either. He probably was thinking about Kuroo's beauty and how to get his number and maybe a date with the barman.

When they entered the bar, Kuroo greeted them politely, pouring a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

"I knew what your order would be this time, Kenma." Kuroo said smiling as he placed the glass on the counter top.

Kenma smiled. "In fact, I wanted to order a beer, but the juice can do too, especially for a high school kid."

Kuroo blushed when Kenma brought up the small gaffe from yesterday.

Oikawa cleared his throat to catch their attention as he sat down beside Kenma.

"Hi, Tetsu-kun. I hope that you remember me." The brunet chuckled.

Kuroo smiled politely and greeted him as well.

"Oikawa Tooru." He acknowledged the other. "Kenma told me you'd tag along. What would you like to drink?" he amiably asked Oikawa.

"Hmm….a Sex on the beach." he answered, his tone turning lascivious as he winked at the bedhead male.

Kenma chocked on his juice, coughing surprised and Kuroo almost dropped the glass.

"Se-sex on the beach, then." Kuroo uttered.

Oikawa chuckled and took a small sim from the glass that Kuroo handed him.

"Oh, it's very, very good, Tetsu-kun. You are really good at your job. Isn't he, Kozume-kun?"

Kenma glanced at the brunet beside him from the corner of his eye. "Why is he dragging me into this?", he thought to himself.

"Kuroo, you're a good barman." Kenma said in the end, blushing and hoping that Kuroo did not misinterpret his words. But he did not lie. Kuroo was kind to him and he even gave him a drink on the house as an apology for calling him a kid. Plus the fact that he seemed to be really curious if Kenma got home safely the previous day. You don't meet men like him every day.

Kuroo and Oikawa discussed some other things, making Kenma feel left out, so he took his phone and started playing some game. He could hear Oikawa's laughter at something Kuroo said about some prank he did back in middle school for one of his teachers. Oikawa also invited Kuroo to hang out somewhere and the other accepted.

Kuroo had to admit that he was wrong about Oikawa. Yes, he had a childish behavior but he acted way nicer and more….decent than he did back at the club. Alcohol truly changes people, he thought. He agreed to watch a movie with the other that Saturday, his free day. What could go wrong anyway? He hasn't dated other person for a year already and the last one was a pure disaster as well.

"By the way, Kenma. Where do you work?" Tetsurou turned his head to face the blond as the shorter male raised his eyes up from his game.

"At a library. It's situated two streets from here."

"The same library where Oikawa tutors the kids?"

"Yes." Was his short response.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Kozume-kun. I totally forgot to tell Tetsu-kun that we work together." Oikawa replied nonchalantly.

"It's fine." Kenma shrugged.

"Kenma, tell us more about you." Said Kuroo as he leaned his head on his palm.

The blond locked his phone and placed it back in his pocket.

"I don't have much to say. I'm a student that has a part-time job at a library."

"Don't be like that, Kozume-kun. You like video games too, don't you?" Oikawa intervened.

"Yeah, but I don't think it's something important. Plus, it's boring. You've got way more things to say, Oikawa."

Indeed, Kenma didn't see himself as an interesting person. Not like Oikawa, who was handsome, intelligent and very sociable. Or like Kuroo, elegant, good looking and Kenma could bet that the other was or at least used to be an athlete, judging by his body structure and the outline of his muscles. Kenma was just a student who liked playing video games. He watched movies with his best friend, Shoyou and worked at a library. He certainly wasn't very good looking; his body wasn't fit and he couldn't say that he was super smart either.

"But Kozume-kun, people have to know you better! I mean, I don't even know what do you like to do in your free time aside from playing video games, and we've known each other for quite a long time now." Oikawa said, leaning closer to Kenma.

"Me and my best friend, Shoyou watch movies together in our free time."

"Kozume-kun, why won't you hang out more? Why don't you date someone? Life would get more interesting this way!"

"I guess I'm not really interested in such things." The male simply shrugged.

"You definitely should find yourself a partner. Wait, I have a brilliant idea!" Tooru exclaimed suddenly. "Why won't you come with me and Tetsu-kun to see that movie on Saturday? And we could hit a club after? Who knows, you might meet someone there. What do you say?"

"It's not a bad idea." Kuroo added as well.

"I don't really know. I will ruin your date." Kenma answered. All he wanted to do on Saturday was to sleep. And maybe play some video games too.

"It would be really nice, though. You really could meet someone that you might like, don't you think? A quiet and cute girl, just like you. Or….a boy even!" The brunet said, playing with his straw.

"I never mentioned that I was bisexual." Kenma replied.

Oikawa suddenly turned his head to watch the faux blond shocked. "So you're bisexual?"

"Probably. I told you that I didn't involve myself in this dating thing. But I liked a boy a while ago, so yeah, I think I'm bisexual." Kozume shrugged, his expression still uninterested.

"Wow, so all of us have the hots for men, huh?" Kuroo laughed. "Kenma, you really should come with me and Oikawa. I promise you that you won't feel like you're third wheeling us."

"Yes!" Oikawa nodded. "We'll even help you hit on someone."

"I'll think about it." Kenma lied.

The evening went well. Kenma felt surprisingly good. Oikawa was the usual Oikawa, cheery and fun to talk with and Kuroo was really polite and nice. He did not exclude Kenma from their conversation bot even for a second and he found out more things about the barman. For example, he was informed that Tetsurou's best friend was a man named Bokuto Koutarou. Kuroo was a student as well and he worked at the bar in his free time, just the same as Kenma did. He lived alone and had a cat. Kenma liked cats, but his landlord was allergic to them.  
Still, he doubted it that he would join them on Saturday. He already felt anxious about the fact that they would go to a club after. The only time when he went to one was a long time ago with one of his old uni friends and he didn't feel comfortable at all. Loud music, drunk people, freaks, freaks everywhere. Worse than in a metro. Plus, he was absolutely sure that he wouldn't fit in. He hoped that Kuroo and Oikawa would enjoy their time though.

"Shoyou, are you home?" Kenma asked as he unlocked their apartment door, stepping inside.

He was met with complete silence. It was almost 10 pm and Shoyou still wasn't home? That was strange. Very, very strange. He checked his phone, maybe Shoyou sent him a message and he didn't notice it. His inbox had no new notifications. Sighing and trying to ignore his worried thoughts, the male typed a text and sent it to his roommate.

Kenma (9:53 PM): Shoyou, where are you?

The reply came almost immediately and Kenma quickly opened it.

Shoyou (9:54 PM): At Tobio's. I passed by today and I left your favorite pie in the fridge~ Enjoy your meal! ^^ I'll be back tomorrow morning! ;*

So Kenma had to spend his night all alone in his apartment. He turned his game console on and took the pie box from the fridge, placing it next to him on the floor. Fortunately, tomorrow was his day off.


End file.
